Submitting an Article Online

Author Guidelines

The Sri Lankan Journal of Applied Statistics (SLJAS) publishes the results of original work on applications of Statistics and on theoretical and methodical aspects of Statistics. The journal also welcomes critical reviews including conceptual discussions, opinions and book reviews. Applications of Statistics in the area of Agriculture & Forestry, Medical, Dental and Veterinary Sciences, Natural, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, Economics and Actuarial Science fall within the scope of the journal.

Instruction to AuthorsManuscript should be clearly typewritten in font Times New Roman, 11pt, 1.15pt-spaced throughout, on B5-sized paper with approximately 2.54cm margin on both sides left and right, and 2cm for top and bottom. Use 12pt. bold for section headings, and 11pt. bold for subsection headings. Use Harvard system for citing references.

Length and StyleAuthors are advised to keep the number of pages of a paper to less than 20. The preferred submission file is in Microsoft Word file format, but papers in Latex are also accepted. The paper should be written clearly and concisely in English.

LayoutManuscripts should be organized as follows: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Methodology, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgement, References. Pages should be numbered consecutively and arranged in the following order.

Page 1 Title page should include the title of paper, names and affiliations of all authors including e-mail address, telephone and fax number of corresponding author. The title should be in 14pt, bold, capitalized the first letter of each word, and centred. The format for authors names is 12pt, bold, and affiliations should be in 11pt. Give also a “Running title” limited to maximum of 50 characters.

Page 2 This page of the manuscript should contain the title of the paper without name(s) and affiliations of the author(s) to ensure a blind copy, and the abstract and keywords.

Abstract An abstract is a short summary of an article with a maximum length of 200 to 250 words. Write the abstract very carefully since most people have their first contact with an article by seeing just the abstract, and then decide whether reading the rest of the article would be worthwhile. Therefore when writing an abstract, include a brief comprehensive summary of the contents of your research. Write your abstract starting with a brief theme sentence showing the overall issue address in the article. Then briefly indicate the main aim or purpose of the study, the academic and/or practical importance of the study, methodology used in the study, main findings and conclusions. The title of the abstract is written in capital English letters in 12 pt, bold. The abstract should be presented as one block (without paragraphs). The contents of the abstract should be in 11pt, italics.

Up to six keywords (excluding those contained in the title) should be given at the end of the abstract. The word "keywords" is in 11 pt, bold.

IntroductionThe purpose of the introduction is to stimulate the reader’s interest and to provide background information relevant to the study. Explain the broad theme/topic of your study in an opening paragraph in such a way that the reader can clearly understand what the study is about. Then explain the academic and practical importance of the study. Next compile the available literature by digesting or synthesizing the existing knowledge instead of summarizing, and cite the most important previous studies which are directly relevant to your research problem. Then highlight the important gaps and inconsistencies in the existing literature which lead further investigation and explain why addressing these issues are important. Then develop the core research problem of the study, and write the specific research objectives that will guide your research. Finally provide the reader an outline of the structure of the rest of the article.

MethodologyThis section describes in detail how the study was conducted, including important definitions used in the study. This should also contain a brief justification of the research method which enables the reader to evaluate the appropriateness of your methods and the reliability and validity of your findings. Also if your current research is an extension of a previously published one, refer the reader to it and give a brief synopsis of the method in this section. Include only the information essential and avoid adding irrelevant information. The methodology section may have the following sub sections.

Sampling Scheme Describe clearly the target population, sampling scheme and variables here. You can also include any specific procedures used in the study.

Development of the design of the studyThis section often shows major developments of the study in detail. If equations are included place the equation in the middle and numbered consecutively with the serial number on the flush right enclosed in parenthesis. In multiple line equations, the number should be given on the last line. Equations may be numbered for the whole document as (1), (2), etc.

Results and DiscussionBefore writing this section, it is important to plan which results are important to the relevant study and which can be left out. Then present those results with sufficient detail to justify your conclusions. After presenting the results, carefully evaluate and interpret their implications with respect to the objectives of the study. Then develop the Discussion section based on these findings. You can discuss the similarities and differences between your results and the work of others.

Tables and figures (photographs, drawings, graphs, flow diagrams) provide a very powerful visual means of presenting data. Each table should start with a Table number and caption at the top. Tables should be sequentially numbered in Arabic numerals as Table 1, Table 2, Table 10 etc. The caption should follow the Table number, after a colon. The caption should be complete, clear and concise. Tables and captions should be centred. Each table should fit in to a B5 sized page in portrait or landscape style. Character size may be smaller than 11pt if necessary, to fit in to the page.

All diagrams, figures and other illustrations should be named as figures, and numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals (Figure 1, Figure 2, ... Figure 10, etc) followed by a colon and a short caption at the bottom. Good-quality figures produced using computer graphics are acceptable. Each figure caption should be complete, clear and concise. Figures and captions should be centred.

Only SI units and standard abbreviation should be used. If a non standard abbreviation or a non-SI unit is to be used extensively, it should be defined at the beginning of the text. Only standard symbols and notations will be accepted.

Footnotes should be placed at the bottom of the page to which they refer and should be divided from the text by a horizontal line 2 cm long. They must be inside the typing area. References to the literature must be indicated in the text and tables as per the Harvard System, by the author’s name and year, in parenthesis (i.e. Silva, 1997). Citation to work by more than two authors should be abbreviated with the use of et al. (i.e. Silva et al., 1997). Multiple works by the same first author should be coded by letters, (i.e. Thompson, 1991a, b). Multiple citations should be listed in chronological order and separated by a semi-colon, (i.e. Zimmerman et al., 2004; Silva et al., 1997).

ConclusionThe conclusion summarizes the major results that can be drawn from the information presented in the article. It answers the questions raised by the original research problem or objectives of the study. When drawing conclusions, first state the main conclusion, and then any other conclusions in decreasing order of importance. You can also present first the positive conclusions and then the negative conclusions. Conclusions must be based on the findings of your research, and do not subjectively make statements related to the research. State the limitations and advantages of your research, and finally give a reasoned and justifiable statement on the importance of your findings.

Acknowledgements Briefly state here the information regarding the individuals who provided help (financial and/or academic) during the research. No section number for acknowledgement.

ReferencesUse Harvard system, and add DOI numbers for each reference if it is available. The list of references should be arranged in alphabetical order. All the initials of the author must be given after the surname and the year of publication should be followed in parentheses. This should be followed by the full title of the referred publication. When journal articles are listed, the journal name should be given in full and it should be indicated in italics and followed by the volume number, issue in parenthesis, and page numbers after a colon. Where there are several works by the same author(s) and published in the same year they should be differentiated by adding a lower case letter after the year. When books are listed, the order should be: author(s), year, book title, volume number, edition, pagination/ inclusive pages, publisher and place of publication. References should only be cited as ‘in press’ if the paper has been accepted for publication.

Copyright:The author(s) transfer(s) the copyright to his/her article to the Institute of Applied Statistics, Sri Lanka effective if and when the article is accepted for publication. The copyright transfer includes exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article in any form of reproduction (printing, electronic media or any other form). Manuscripts must be accompanied by the "Copyright Transfer Statement" (the form is published in the web site of this journal) when it is accepted for publication.

Peer-Review Process:The manuscripts submitted to the SLJAS will initially send to an Associate Editor, and it will be pre-screened. If the manuscript is suitable, it will be sent to two reviewers in the relevant field. All submitted manuscripts will be peer reviewed by at least two competent reviewers (or three reviewers in case a decision cannot be taken from two reviews) and the reviewers' comments will be forwarded to the authors.

The peer-review process of the Sri Lankan Journal of Applied Statistics is a double blind process. While submitting the revised manuscript, the authors should explain how the reviewers' comments have been addressed. If the authors disagree with reviewers' comments, the reason(s) should be explained. Decision of the editorial board will be final. Those papers recommended by at least two reviewers are accepted for publication.

We aim to complete the peer review process within 3 to 6 months, but it depends on the response of the peer reviewers

Submission of the ManuscriptAll manuscript should be submitted by e-mail (editor.iassl@gmail.com ) attaching a covering letter confirming that it describes original research not submitted for publication or already published elsewhere. The decision of the Editorial Board on publication is final. Papers may be subject to editorial revision in order to improve presentation. When revision of a manuscript has been requested, the revised manuscript should be submitted within two months. Otherwise, the manuscript will be processed as one withdrawn from submission. The accepted date will be the day when the Editorial Board has judged it to be publishable after the reviewing process.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).

The preferred submission file is in Microsoft Word or Open Office document file format, but papers in Latex are also accepted. Download the Latex Template or the MS-Word Template when preparing your manuscript. Authors are advised to keep the number of pages of a paper to less than 20 in B5 size. If you have any questions, please e-mail to editor.iassl@gmail.com

Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.

The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.

The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.

If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.

Copyright Notice

The copyright to this article is transferred to the Institute of Applied Statistics, Sri Lanka effective if and when the article is accepted for publication. The copyright transfer includes exclusive right to reproduce and distribute the article in any form of reproduction (printing, electronic media or any other form).

The corresponding author certifies that he/she has full power to make this grant, and his/her contribution is original. The author signs for and accept responsibility for submitting this material on behalf of any and all co-authors.

After submission of this agreement signed by the corresponding author no changes to the authorship or the order of the authors listed will be accepted by the Institute of Applied Statistics, Sri Lanka.

A printed copy of the copyright transfer statement duly signed by the corresponding author should post to the Institute of Applied Statistics, Sri Lanka, Professional Center, 275/75 Prof. Stanley Wijesundera Mawatha, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.Please note that the article will be considered for publication only after receiving the signed Copyright Transfer Statement.

The journal allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon its content, even commercially, as long as the original work is properly cited.